Nasr, SaharRostom, Ahmed2014-02-042014-02-042013-10https://hdl.handle.net/10986/16897Recent economic and political developments have highlighted a challenge shared across the Arab region of generating employment, promoting inclusive growth, and improving competitiveness. In the short run, weakened macroeconomic fundamentals in the developing economies of the Middle East and North Africa are a key challenge. The region's main challenge is to achieve sustainable growth that delivers the quantity and quality of jobs needed. An inclusive and competitive private sector has proven to be one of the most effective and long-term solutions for this challenge. This paper provides an analytical framework to diagnose and identify key challenges to the growth of small and medium enterprises that is supported by a quantitative model based on the World Bank's Enterprise Surveys database. The findings reconfirm that the route to a sustained role for small and medium enterprises in job creation requires improving the credibility of reforms, the effectiveness of policies, and equitable enforcement. Although one size fits all is infeasible for Arab countries, it is important to design policies across sectors to create productive employment and promote economic growth. Supporting innovation and enhancing access to finance are central to the development agenda for small and medium enterprises. And creating an enabling environment and setting up accountable institutions are key to ensure equal opportunity and inclusive growth.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOACCESS TO CREDITACCESS TO EMPLOYMENTACCESS TO FINANCEACCESS TO FINANCIAL SERVICESACCESS TO FINANCINGACCESS TO FORMAL CREDITACCESS TO INFORMATIONACCESS TO MARKETSADMINISTRATIVE COSTSADVANCED TECHNOLOGYAUDITSBANKBANK FINANCINGBANK LENDINGBANK LOANSBANKING SYSTEMSBANKRUPTCYBANKSBARRIERS TO ENTRYBASIC METALSBORROWERSBORROWINGBRIBESBUSINESS ACTIVITYBUSINESS DEVELOPMENTBUSINESS DEVELOPMENT SERVICESBUSINESS PLANBUSINESS PLANSBUSINESS STARTUPSBUSINESS SUCCESSCAPITALCAPITAL ADEQUACYCAPITAL FUNDSCAPITAL INVESTMENTCAPITAL MARKETSCASH FLOWCOLLATERAL REQUIREMENTSCOMMERCIAL BANKSCOMPETITIVE MARKETSCOMPLIANCE COSTCONSUMER PROTECTIONCOOPERATIONCORRUPTIONCOST OF CREDITCREDITCREDIT BUREAUSCREDIT CARDSCREDIT DECISIONSCREDIT FACILITIESCREDIT GAPCREDIT HISTORYCREDIT INFORMATIONCREDIT INFORMATION SYSTEMCREDIT INSTITUTIONSCREDIT PRODUCTSCREDIT REGISTRIESCREDITORCREDITWORTHINESSDEMANDDEMOGRAPHICSDEVELOPED COUNTRIESDEVELOPMENT OF VENTURE CAPITALDISCRIMINATIONDIVERSIFICATIONECONOMIC ACTIVITIESECONOMIC ANALYSISECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTSECONOMIC EMPOWERMENTECONOMIC GROWTHECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIESECONOMIC OPPORTUNITYECONOMIC REFORMSECONOMIC RESOURCESECONOMIC SITUATIONEDUCATION SYSTEMEMPIRICAL EVIDENCEEMPLOYEEEMPLOYEESEMPLOYEREMPLOYERSEMPLOYMENT DYNAMICSEMPLOYMENT GROWTHEMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIESENTERPRISEENTERPRISE REGISTRATIONENTERPRISESENTREPRENEURENTREPRENEURIAL POTENTIALENTREPRENEURSENTREPRENEURSHIP OPPORTUNITIESENVIRONMENTSEQUAL ACCESSEQUAL OPPORTUNITIESEQUAL OPPORTUNITYEXCLUSIONEXPECTATIONSFAMILIESFAMILYFEESFINANCE ACCESSFINANCE COSTSFINANCIAL DEVELOPMENTFINANCIAL INFRASTRUCTUREFINANCIAL INNOVATIONFINANCIAL INSTITUTIONSFINANCIAL INTERMEDIARIESFINANCIAL INTERMEDIATIONFINANCIAL INTERMEDIATIONSFINANCIAL MARKETFINANCIAL MARKETSFINANCIAL NEEDSFINANCIAL PRODUCTFINANCIAL PRODUCTSFINANCIAL SECTOR REFORMSFINANCIAL SERVICESFINANCIAL SYSTEMFINANCIAL SYSTEMSFINANCINGFIRM DYNAMICSFIRM SIZEFISCAL DEFICITSFIXED COSTFIXED COSTSFOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENTFORMAL FINANCIAL MARKETGENDERGENDER EQUALITYGENDER MAINSTREAMINGGOOD CREDITGOVERNMENT POLICIESGREATER ACCESSGROWTH OPPORTUNITIESHIGH UNEMPLOYMENTHOME MORTGAGESHOUSEHOLDHOUSEHOLDSHUMAN CAPITALHUMAN RIGHTSHUSBANDINCENTIVESINEQUALITYINFORMAL WORKERSINFORMATION ASYMMETRYINTERESTINTEREST RATEINTERNAL FUNDSINTERNATIONAL BANKINVESTMENTINVESTMENT BARRIERSJOBJOB CREATIONJOB OPPORTUNITIESJOBSJOBS CREATIONKEY CHALLENGEKEY CHALLENGESLABOR FORCELABOR FORCE PARTICIPATIONLABOR MARKETLABOR MARKETSLABOR PRODUCTIVITYLACK OF ACCESSLANDLENDING DECISIONSLENDING TECHNIQUESLINE OF CREDITLOANLOAN APPLICATIONLOAN TERMMARKET ECONOMYMARKET INFORMATIONMICRO ENTERPRISESMODELSMOVABLE COLLATERALNEW BUSINESSNEW BUSINESSESOILOPTIONSOUTREACHPATENTSPAYMENTPAYMENTSPEOPLEPERSONAL ASSETSPERSONAL FINANCEPOLICY DECISIONSPOLICY ENVIRONMENTPOLICY MAKERSPOLITICAL ECONOMYPRIVATE CREDITPRIVATE INVESTMENTPRIVATE INVESTMENTSPRIVATE SECTORPRIVILEGED ACCESSPRODUCERSPRODUCTIVE EMPLOYMENTPRODUCTIVITY GROWTHPROPERTYPROPERTY AS COLLATERALPUBLIC CREDITPUBLIC FINANCESRED TAPEREGULATORY POLICYREVENUESSMALL BUSINESSSMALL BUSINESSESSMALL ENTERPRISESSOCIAL DEVELOPMENTSOURCE OF INCOMESTART-UPSTART-UPSSUSTAINABLE GROWTHTAX RATESTAXESTERM CREDITTRADETREASURY BILLSUNEMPLOYMENTUNEMPLOYMENT RATESUNFAIR COMPETITIONUNIONVALUESVENTURE CAPITAL FIRMSWAGESWOMANWOMAN ENTREPRENEURSWOMENWOMEN ENTREPRENEURSWORKING CAPITALWorld Bank10.1596/1813-9450-6682